We walked up to the excited bunch of players from Our Lady Mother of Poor, who had just picked up their third place winners medals, and asked for their top scorer Joyron Fernandes. As the boys proudly pushed him forward, he had to be coaxed away from his teammates so that we could have a word with him. Shy off the pitch, he seemed almost embarrassed that he had to take photos without his teammates besides him. On the pitch, however, he exudes immense confidence and knows exactly what he wants to do with the ball at his feet.

He scored a remarkable 11 goals for his school, Our Lady Mother of Poor, as his clinical form took his school to a third place finish in the U-12 Junior Gaurs Tournament where over 62 schools from all over Goa participated. His quick thinking and composure were qualities that shone throughout the tournament.

As we started taking a few photos, his team mates surrounded him to find out what the excitement was about and he was immediately at ease in their company. He opened up a little more and said he is influenced by Neymar’s magic for his favourite club FC Barcelona, and that he hoped to emulate the Brazilian star by turning in match-winning performances from the wing for FC Goa someday. However, when asked which Gaur he liked the most, Joyron immediately said he loved watching the midfield schemer from our ’15 campaign – Leo Moura – play, with a smile a mile wide.

Joyron is now concentrating on his upcoming final exams and hopes to get back on the field during summer break. The U12 tournament is just the beginning and we hope to see this young talent make his way up all the way to the first team soon!